A few weeks ago, Strom et al. reported an apparent association between the amount of saturated fat in patients’ diets following treatment for localized disease and their risk for biochemical failure. This report just came to our attention. However, it is a retrospective analysis of historic data and therefore needs to be interpreted with some caution.
The authors evaluated the association between saturated fat intake and biochemical failure among 390 men from a previously described group of radical prostatectomy patients. Participants had completed a food frequency questionnaire for the year prior to diagnosis.
During a mean follow-up of 70.6 months, 78/390 men (20 percent) experienced biochemical failure. Men who consumed highly saturated fat diets were more likely to experience biochemical failure and had shorter times to biochemical progression than men who ate low saturated fat diets (26.6 vs. 44.7 months). Men who were both obese and consumed high saturated fat diets had the shortest times to biochemical failure (average 19 months), and non-obese men who consumed low saturated fat diets had the longest times to biochemical failure (average 46 months).
It sounds like there’s a lesson here, but we probably need more information to be sure.
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Does biochemical failure mean hormone refractory?
What about after failure does saturated fat play any roll?
Thanks Ed Roge
Biochemical failure after treatment for localized disease does NOT mean hormone refractory. You can only become hormone refractory after you have received hormone therapy and it ceases to keep your PSA under control.
However, there have long been data that suggest the value of limiting saturated fat intake in men who have progressive prostate cancer (including hormone refractory disease). Some men swear by diets that are high in things like tofu, for example.
You might want to join The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink Social Network (see link in left column) and talk directly with men who have been dealing with problems of this type for several years.
Thanks Mike, will do